The 2010 Flash Crash began on May 6, 2010, when US markets plunged and then recovered rapidly within minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,000 points, or nearly 9%, during the session. Some individual securities briefly traded at extremely low prices before recovering. The episode exposed how electronic markets, high-frequency trading, and automated orders could interact during a period of stress.
A joint investigation by US regulators concluded that a large automated order to sell E-mini S&P 500 futures helped trigger the rapid decline, while liquidity disappeared and other automated systems amplified the move. The event was not a conventional multi-month bear market; it was an exceptionally abrupt intraday dislocation.
The Flash Crash led to market-structure reforms, including circuit breakers and trading pauses for individual stocks. It is distinct from the 2008 financial crisis, even though both affected US markets.